Sons of Anarchy CD gives Katey Sagal music outlet (AP)

NEW YORK ? Somebody get Katey Sagal a record deal ? no really.

Although she's happy with her day job on the successful F/X series "Sons of Anarchy," in her heart, she's a singer ? and she gets a chance to show it as part of a new collection of songs from show's first four seasons.

"I love being an actor, but there's something about playing music that's a gift," the 57-year old Sagal admits.

In the past, Sagal recorded on Elektra and Casablanca Records. But times have changed in the music business for her, and she paid to record her last album. Sagal yearns to record again in a more traditional manner.

"I'm still old school. I have to go in the studio with a producer."

"Music From Sons of Anarchy: Season 1-4" features three songs by Sagal, and represents a return to her main love. Though Sagal gained her fame as an actress, her first big break in show business was in music.

Sagal sang with everyone from Gene Simmons to Bob Dylan to Etta James. She toured as a backup vocalist with Bette Midler. She was enjoying moderate success when a friend persuaded her to go for an acting job. By that time Sagal, the daughter of director Boris Sagal and who had acted briefly in her teens on television, was in her late twenties.

"I didn't realize until someone said that I should audition for a play, and I did, and I got it, and all of a sudden I was an actor," Sagal says.

Sagal's success began with her role as the tartish Peg Bundy in the sitcom "Married With Children," which ran from 1987 to 1997. Another series, "Eight Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," and her role as the voice of Leela in Matt Groening's animated series "Futurama" sealed her fate as sitcom royalty. But she has never stopped playing music.

With a few solo records to her credit, Sagal admits she would like to break out and sign a major record deal. But for now, playing music whenever she can quells her desire. Since she's always had a band, she welcomed the opportunity to add her distinct voice on cover tunes that were appropriate for specific scenes in the show. Sagal covers standards like "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Bird on a Wire" with soulful edge that works well with the content of the show.

On "Sons of Anarchy," Sagal plays the tough-willed Gemma Teller Morrow. Sagal calls her character "an intense survivor with admirable qualities."

Created by her husband, Kurt Sutter, the television drama tells the tale of a group of bikers in Northern California. They've been married for seven years, and doing the show for more than half that time.

"There've been some growing pains with it," Sagal says of being married to her boss. "The only pitfall I say is it becoming all-compassing. .... It's both of our jobs. We talk about it a lot. He does everything on that show. He writes it. He edits it. He directs it."

But it's not business in the household.

"The good news is we have these three kids at home, and they definitely pull focus, because at some point you can't talk about your work," Sagal said.

___

Online:

http://www.kateysagal.net/

http://www.fxnetwork.com/shows/originals/soa/

___

John Carucci covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/jcarucci_ap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_en_ot/us_music_katey_sagal

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Furor in Greece over pedophilia as a disability (AP)

ATHENS, Greece ? Greek disability groups expressed anger Monday at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs.

The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action "incomprehensible," and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants.

The Labor Ministry said categories added to the expanded list ? that also includes pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists ? were included for purposes of medical assessment and used as a gauge for allocating financial assistance.

But NCDP leader Yiannis Vardakastanis, who is blind, warned the new list could create new difficulties for disabled Greeks who are already facing benefit cuts due to the country's financial crisis.

"What's happened is incomprehensible. I think there is some big mistake. The ministry should have a different policy on disability," Vardakastanis told the Associated Press. "The list contains major changes to disability quotients, which could effectively remove many people from access to benefits."

The new list gives pyromaniacs and pedophiles disability pay up to 35 percent, compared to 80 percent for heart transplant recipients.

"It's really not serious to grant Peeping Toms a 20-30 percent disability rate, and 10 percent to diabetics, who have insulin shots four or five times a day," said Vardakastanis.

Greece has been fighting to avoid bankruptcy since 2009. Public spending on health and welfare programs has been sharply cut under austerity measures imposed as a condition for receiving emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund and other countries using the euro currency.

Independently run welfare programs that survived on state grants have been the hardest hit, leaving some disabled groups, including the deaf, facing sudden drops in their standard of care.

The government is also battling widespread abuse in the welfare system, forcing tens of thousands of disabled people to be reassessed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_he_me/eu_greece_disability_dispute

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GOP candidates fail to get on some primary ballots (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Many of Mitt Romney's presidential challengers are having trouble fulfilling a fundamental requirement of running for public office: getting on the ballot.

Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman have all failed to qualify for the ballot in at least one upcoming GOP primary. In other states, they have failed to file full slates of delegates with state or party officials, raising questions about whether these candidates have the resources to wage effective national campaigns.

And if one of them were able to marshal enough anti-Romney forces to challenge the front-runner, the ballot blunders could limit their ability to win delegates in key states.

The exception: Ron Paul, who appears to have avoided such pitfalls so far.

"This is why you need a real-life, no-kidding-around campaign," said Rich Galen, a GOP strategist and former Gingrich aide who is neutral in the 2012 race. "All these guys who have been crowing that they found a new way to run for president, it's like saying I'm inventing a new airplane, and it has only one wing."

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, won the first two contests, in Iowa and New Hampshire, and he is leading in the polls in South Carolina and Florida, the next two states to have primaries. Romney raised $56 million in 2011 for his campaign, giving him big financial and organizational advantages over his GOP rivals.

Those advantages are on display as many of his competitors miss deadlines or fail to collect enough signatures to meet ballot requirements in upcoming contests.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who came within a few votes of winning the Iowa caucuses, failed to get on the ballot in Virginia or the District of Columbia. His campaign also filed incomplete slates of delegates in Illinois and Ohio, which could limit his ability to win delegates in those key states.

Virginia has been a tough ballot to crack for several GOP candidates because the state requires campaigns to collect signatures from at least 10,000 registered voters. Romney and Paul were the only ones who made the ballot for the March 6 primary. Perry sued, and he has since been joined in the lawsuit by Gingrich, Huntsman and Santorum.

Santorum is the only major candidate who will be left off the ballot in the District of Columbia primary April 3, said Paul Craney, executive director of the DC Republican Committee. The party provides two ways to get on the ballot: Pay $10,000, or pay $5,000 and collect signatures from 296 registered Republicans in the heavily Democratic capital city.

"It's not easy, but it can be done, if you are a serious presidential candidate," Craney said. "All the presidential candidates who are serious about winning the nomination will be on the D.C. ballot."

Santorum adviser John Brabender acknowledged that Romney has more money and a larger campaign organization. But, he said, Santorum's campaign has gained resources and momentum since the close finish in Iowa. Romney, he said, has been running for president for the past six years, giving him more time to build his organization.

"It's a different campaign than it was earlier," Brabender said.

Huntsman, the former Utah governor, failed to get on the ballot in Arizona or Illinois.

The requirements to get on the GOP ballot in Arizona are pretty easy ? all you have to do is fill out a two-page form. Twenty-three candidates managed to do it properly, so they will be on the ballot for the state's Feb. 28 primary.

Huntsman, however, was left off the ballot because his filing had a photocopied signature and wasn't notarized, said Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

"If you can't get on the ballot around the country, you're a regional candidate, by definition," said Rich Beeson, the Romney campaign's political director. "Barack Obama is going to be on the ballot in all 50 states, and so will we."

Gingrich, the former House speaker, didn't make it on the ballot for primaries in Missouri or Virginia, though he has joined the lawsuit to get on the Virginia ballot and Missouri won't award any delegates based on its Feb. 7 primary. Instead, Missouri Republicans will hold caucuses March 17.

Perry, the Texas governor, made the ballot in Illinois, but he will only be eligible to win one delegate in the state's March 20 primary ? a contest in which 54 delegates will be up for grabs.

It will take 1,144 delegates to win the nomination at the Republican national convention this summer.

Illinois has a unique way of awarding delegates to candidates. The winner of the state's GOP primary doesn't necessarily get any delegates. Instead, Republicans will vote for the actual delegates, who are listed separately on the ballot but are identified by the candidate they support.

Each of the state's 18 congressional districts will elect three delegates, for a total of 54. To appear on the ballot as a delegate, candidates had to collect signatures from at least 600 registered voters in the district where they are running.

Only one Perry delegate filed signatures by the deadline, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Gingrich, Paul and Romney filed full slates, while only 44 Santorum delegates filed signatures.

The system is designed to keep fly-by-night candidates from crowding the ballot, said Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois in Springfield.

"It keeps people who don't know what they're doing out of the arena," Mooney said.

___

Associated Press writers Paul Davenport in Phoenix and Ann Sanner in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_ballot_blunders

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

The storm system in the lower Mississippi Valley will lift northeastward Wednesday. Moderate to heavy rain with scattered thunderstorms is expected from the lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast northeastward across much of the Eastern U.S. Higher elevations of the Appalachians can expect a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow.

Meanwhile, a strong cold front is expected to sag southeastward across the Central U.S. and bring a very cold air mass with it. Behind this cold front, scattered snow showers are expected to develop over portions of the Northern Plains and across the Upper Midwest, reaching the Ohio Valley by Thursday morning. Another area of snow showers can be found over the Rockies. Apart from the precipitation, strong winds are likely to develop behind the cold front as well across much of the Central U.S. Northwest winds are expected to increase to 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph. These strong winds combined with the much colder air mass will produce windchill readings in the single digits and teens. By Thursday, this cold front will merge with the storm system over the East Coast and bring very active weather across the Midwest and East Coast.

Out West, another dry and mild day is in store for the West Coast Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure remains remains in place. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday have ranged from a morning low of -9 degrees at Kremmling, Colo. to a high of 84 degrees at Crystal River, Fla.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Iran leader defends nuclear program on LatAm trip (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his country's nuclear program as he began a four-nation tour of Latin America, joining his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in accusing the U.S. and its allies of using the dispute to unjustly threaten Iran.

Both leaders dismissed U.S. concerns about Iran's intentions in the Middle East and its growing diplomatic ties with Chavez and his allies in Latin America.

"They accuse us of being warmongers," Chavez said. "They're the threat."

Both leaders planned to travel to Nicaragua on Tuesday for the inauguration of newly re-elected President Daniel Ortega, and then Ahmadinejad will also visit Cuba and Ecuador.

The Iranian leader is using the visit to tout relationships with some of his close friends shortly after the U.S. imposed tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Washington and other governments believe Iran is using the nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Chavez and his allies back Iran in arguing the program is purely for peaceful purposes.

Chavez accused the U.S. and its European allies of demonizing Iran and using false claims about the nuclear issue "like they used the excuse of weapons of mass destruction to do what they did in Iraq."

Ahmadinejad dismissed the accusations about Iran's nuclear program in general terms.

"They say we're making (a) bomb," the Iranian leader said through an interpreter. "Fortunately, the majority of Latin American countries are alert. Everyone knows that those words ... are a joke. It's something to laugh at."

"It's clear they're afraid of our development," Ahmadinejad said.

Adding to the U.S.-Iran tensions, Iranian state radio reported Monday that a court in Iran convicted dual U.S.-Iranian citizen Amir Mirzaei Hekmati of working for the CIA and sentenced the former Marine to death. Neither Chavez nor Ahmadinejad referred to the case.

They joked that their relationship shouldn't cause any concern. Ahmadinejad said if they were together building anything like a bomb, "the fuel of that bomb is love." Chavez played on the same theme, saying Iran has been helping manufacture an "atomic bicycle" at a plant in the country.

The Venezuelan leader said Iran's assistance has helped his country build 14,000 homes as well as factories that produce food, tractors and vehicles. Government officials signed two agreements promoting industrial cooperation and worker training.

Chavez said both Venezuela and Iran are peaceful countries that weather a battery of suspicion and accusations by critics.

"When we devils get together ... it's like they go crazy," Chavez said.

Laughing, Chavez said Ahmadinejad is traveling through "the axis of evil of Latin America."

Iran finds itself under increasing pressure in the standoff over its nuclear program, and in response to the latest U.S. sanctions has threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, an important transit route for oil tanker shipments.

The U.N. nuclear agency on Monday confirmed that Iran has begun enriching uranium at an underground bunker to a level that can be upgraded more quickly for use in a nuclear weapon than the nation's main enriched stockpile. That development has increased fears among U.S. and European officials about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Beyond voicing criticism of the U.S. on his tour, Ahmadinejad is also likely to look for ways to use his Latin American alliances to diminish the impact of sanctions on Iran's oil industry, said Diego Moya-Ocampos, an analyst with consulting firm IHS Global Insight in London.

However, Moya-Ocampos predicted that "Venezuela is going to be very careful not to push its relationship with Iran beyond the U.S. tolerance limits," so as not to risk being hit with more U.S. sanctions.

Last year, the U.S. imposed sanctions on state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA for delivering at least two cargoes of oil products to Iran.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters the government had not made any oil-related agreements with Iran.

Asked about the sanctions against Iran and its threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, Ramirez said OPEC, to which both countries belong, could not get involved in the issue.

"Any action that Iran takes in defense of its sovereignty is a matter of Iran," Ramirez said.

___

Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador, and Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_latin_america_iran

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Gingrich says NH not a 'fortress' for rival Romney

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accompanied by his wife Callista, gestures during an address at BAE Systems during a campaign stop in Nashua, N.H., Monday Jan. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accompanied by his wife Callista, gestures during an address at BAE Systems during a campaign stop in Nashua, N.H., Monday Jan. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich shakes hands during a campaign stop in Hudson, N.H., Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

(AP) ? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he anticipates finishing in the "top three or four" in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and going on to confront front-runner Mitt Romney head-on in South Carolina.

"We're all going to be dividing the vote and I think it will shake itself out when we get to South Carolina," said Gingrich, making the rounds of morning news shows with voting under way.

Gingrich also said he believed "the biggest story" in New Hampshire is that the former Massachusetts governor will fall short of "any reasonable expectation" in a state where he has been heavily favored for many months.

"New Hampshire is his third strongest state after Utah and Massachusetts," Gingrich told CNN in an interview. "If he can't do very, very well here tonight, I think it raises questions about his candidacy everywhere else."

The former House speaker said people expected New Hampshire to be Romney's for the asking, but "I don't think it's going to be much of a fortress."

In an appearance Tuesday morning on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends," Gingrich said he wouldn't press Romney on the former governor's comment about instances in which he enjoys firing people.

Gingrich said he thought Romney's remark had been taken "out of context" by critics and said he thought it wasn't "well-worded." The former congressman acknowledged that Romney actually was talking about people having the right to ditch a health insurer if they didn't like the service they were getting. But he also renewed his call on Romney to tell the public more about his time at the helm of a venture capital firm, Bain Capital, which Gingrich has charged went into some troubled companies, took money out and left people without jobs.

He called Romney's remark "clumsy," and said it illustrated that he'd be superior in a debate with President Barack Obama.

In the CNN interview, Gingrich also defended a series of anti-Romney ads that will be run by a super PAC in South Carolina in his behalf, saying Romney's negative advertising in Iowa forced his hand and that he wasn't going to "disarm."

Gingrich had a blitz of television appearances and 11th-hour campaign stops as he tried to whip up enthusiasm for his White House bid, following a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa. He planned to visit polling places in Manchester, Bedford, Merrimack and Hollis.

Gingrich has used New Hampshire as a staging ground to launch more aggressive attacks on Romney, labeling the GOP front-runner timid and assailing his time at the helm of Bain Capital. The most successful elections, Gingrich argues, are those in which the contrast between the candidates is wide.

"I really do believe a Reagan conservative has a better chance of defeating Obama than a Massachussetts moderate," Gingrich said late Monday at a town hall at a high school in Hudson that drew some 500 people.

___

Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-10-Gingrich/id-905ea4fce99e44d1ad548396b089355e

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Qualcomm Atheros unveils its first WiFi display technology, wants to share

Qualcomm's taken to the stage at CES and it's got some WiFi-connected displays to show the hungry tech journo crowd. Throwing in peer-to-peer connectivity, devices will be able to transmit screen images, audio content and more. It'll be joined by Qualcomm's new media shifting platform Skifta, but rest assured, there's the typical WiFi security options, including WPA2, to keep what you share under wraps.

Continue reading Qualcomm Atheros unveils its first WiFi display technology, wants to share

Qualcomm Atheros unveils its first WiFi display technology, wants to share originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/qualcomm-atheros-unveils-its-first-wifi-display-technology-want/

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Stocks open strong on hopes for Europe, earnings (AP)

Stocks are shooting higher after the market opened on comforting news from Europe and an optimistic outlook from corporate bellwether Alcoa.

European markets rose sharply Tuesday after Fitch Ratings said it will not downgrade France this year. A downgrade for France could scuttle the region's bailout efforts. The bailout fund relies on the sterling credit ratings of France and Germany to borrow at affordable rates.

Alcoa kicked off the U.S. corporate earnings season late Monday. The aluminum producer forecast that global demand will improve in 2012.

The Dow is up 95 points, or 0.8 percent, at 12,487 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 index is up 12, or 1 percent, at 1,292. The Nasdaq is up 30, or 1.1 percent, at 2,706.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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